Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Our Reader’s Rig of the week comes from framebuilder Jimbo Safi of Safi Works, who shares the 6945 gravel bike he built to excel in fast-paced races and loaded tours alike. Fresh off a long ride between Switzerland and Spain, find details on Jimbo’s second Reader’s Rig contribution here…
Words and photos by Jimbo Safi
Hi, I’m Jimbo, and I’m originally from Murcia (Spain). Formerly a framebuilder known as Safi Works based in Madrid, I moved to Swissneyland to work at BMC as Product Manager Components. However, I recently opened a new and exciting chapter.
I’d say I’m a cheerful and romantic guy who tries to blend the beauty of fully loaded bikes with what I call “speed bikes.” I first got hooked on cargo bikes (and still love them) and later discovered the bikes with equal ERTRO wheels front and rear. I love all sorts of properly designed bikes and making the proper use of them: from the simplicity of nine tubes put together correctly, bringing to life such a simple and capable machine, to the mega-engineered, seamless, integrated, and unique design of a BMC bike. Bikepacking and taking things to places still takes the biggest part of my heart, and it’s what fulfills me the most.
About the bike: Safi Works is my one-man show of bespoke high-end steel bikes from Madrid. I closed orders nearly two years ago, but Safi is not dead! My intention is to bring it back slowly in a scalable format where more people can enjoy such bikes. This is the 6945 model that I designed and built as gravel “fixed geometry” and not custom—where the brand will pivot toward. The 69 is for the trail, and the 45 is for the tire clearance. Those two figures can broadly describe the purpose of a bike. I’ll soon release the new SAFI 6338. Can you guess which category it will be?
- Frame/Fork: Safi Works 6945
- Rims: DT Swiss ERC 1400 DiCut 45
- Hubs: DT Swiss 240
- Tires: Vitoria Corsa Next 32
- Handlebars: Zipp Service Course SL 400mm
- Headset: Deda integrated S-DCR
- Crankset: SRAM Red Pro 44t
- Pedals: Shimano XT
- Cassette: SRAM Force XPLR 10-44T
- Derailleur(s): SRAM Force XPLR AXS
- Brakes: SRAM Red 160mm front and rear
- Shifter(s): SRAM Red AXS
- Saddle: Fizik Argo Vento
- Seatpost: Zipp SL Speed 31.6
- Stem: Zipp Service Course 130mm
- Front bags: Cordel Durum Cargo
- Frame bags: Cordel custom
- Rear bags: Cordel SB LW
- Accessory bags: BMC Top tube bag
- Lights: Lupine Piko (front) / Petzl Actik Core (head) / Bontrager Flare RT (rear)
- Other accessories: Silca Sicuro bottle cages, Velo Orange hammered fenders
A bike can’t do it all, but it can absolutely cover several purposes with small compromises when designed smartly. This is a gravel bike that can perform extremely well on fast and hectic races, but it’s also hungry for longer and rougher rides. It’s ready to strap or bolt on some packs and do overnights, too.
The front triangle is made with Columbus Spirit and rear Life tubes. The cables are routed internally through a custom machined head tube, below the stem, and through a T47 bottom bracket, achieving what I consider the right cable integration. This makes it easy to service and swap stems while keeping the cockpit clean and tidy.
As shown in the photos, the bike is built up in randonneur mode for a ride connecting what feels like home for me today in Bienne, Switzerland, with my roots in Murcia, Spain.
You can follow along with Jimbo on Instagram.
Send Us Your Bikepacking Rig
Use the form below to submit your bikepacking rig. We’ll choose one per week to feature in a Reader’s Rig Dispatch and on Instagram. To enter, email us your best photo of the bike (preferably at a 90° angle), your Instagram username (optional), and a short description of you and your rig. If your bike is selected, we’ll need a total of five photos and a little bit more info.
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